MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE!
Psalm 27:1-14
INTRODUCTION: Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who have died in the service of our nation. Many of us have known someone who died during their time of military service to our nation. Today, together we will express our rightful appreciation that is due to these men and women It is truly fitting for our Memorial Day service to hear from a warrior of past years, King David.
I. OUR POWER TO ENDURE LIFE’S BATTLES!
Several images have inspired our nation during our times of war. During the Revolutionary War it was the image of the Star-Spangled Banner that motivated Francis Scott Key to write our national
anthem. During the Second World War it was the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and it’s 2,400 deaths on December 7, 1941, that lived in the minds of many Americans. King David said he was inspired to fight because He gazed on the beauty of the Lord. Psalm 27:1-4. David discovered that, in order to endure the threats of this life we must: constantly seek the face of God in all that we do! All our beauty on this earth is fading, but the beauty of the Lord never changes.
II. OUR PLEA IN LIFE’S VALLEYS!
Throughout this Psalm David oscillates between his absolute confidence in the Lord and his desperation of pleading for God to be with him: Psalm 27:7-12. What are the pleas we hear from David in these verses? Psalm 27:7: God’s mercy. Psalm 27:8: Seeing the Lord. Psalm 27:9: Do not reject of forsake me. Psalm 66:18. Psalm 27:11: Teach me Your ways and lead me in a straight path. David knew that without a living relationship with his God everything else fades. Too many of us when we hit our hard times in life glance at God and gaze upon our problems. What we need to do is learn for this warrior king to glance at our problems and gaze on our God! We need to constantly plead with our God to be with us and to guide our lives: Psalm 27:9. Every problem in our lives is an opportunity to cry out to our God: Psalm 27:10. Let me ask do you have that confidence in your God that even if others desert you your Lord never will? Hebrews 13:5-6. Do you honestly believe that? Psalm 27:8. We need to gaze on the beauty of the Lord to help us through our battles and trials: John 14:21.
III. OUR CONFIDENCE WHEN OUR LIVES ARE IN SHAMBLES!
Our God desires to be our light and our salvation in every trial of our lives: Psalm 27:1. The apostle John said: 1 John 1:5-7. Best of all Jesus said: John 8:12; Psalm 27:1. David’s confidence in God is remarkable because he really believed that if an entire army came against him and God was with him, he would win! Psalm 27:3; Psalm 27:13-14. Years later the apostle Paul wrote something very similar: Romans 8:31; Romans 8:36-39. When life is at its worst both King David and the apostle Paul say: “My confidence is in my God!” Psalm 27:1; Proverbs 18:10. We like David must strive to live in the presence of our Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ made a way so that sinful men and women can come into the very presence of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 13:12. Jesus Christ endured the greatest battle ever fought on this earth and because of that one day we shall see Him face to face.